Wednesday 5 November 2014

Let's Brew Wednesday - Zum Uerige Alt

Thank you Fred Waltman. Thank you for posting a picture of a Zum Uerige brewing record on BeerAdvocate,

Because now I know for certain a couple of things. Like the grist. And I'm relieved to see that, unlike some Alt brewers, they don't get the colour from Sinamar or caramel. Three malts are in the mix: Pils-, Cara- and Röstmalz. Given the small quantity of Caramalz the colour must mostly come from the Röstmalz.

According to the Braugersten-Gemeinschaft, Röstmalz has a colour of 800 - 1500 EBC. Which makes it probably closer to chocolate malt than black malt. The Caramalz should be in the range 35 to 80 EBC.

Interesting that there are also three types of hops - Perle, Spalt and Hallertau. All classic German varieties. The hopping rate is even higher than that stated by Narziss - 500 gm/hl as opposed to 400 gm/hl**.

Uerige Alt March 2004
pils 1,060 kg 96.36%
cara 25 kg 2.27%
Röst 15 kg 1.36%
total 1,100 kg
Perle 6 kg 16.67%
Spalt 20 kg 55.56%
Hallertau 10 kg 27.78%
total 36 kg
gm/hl hops 500
hl 72
OG Plato 11.90
OG 1047.8
FG 1011.6
ABV 4.70
App. Atten-uation 75.73%
Source:
Zum Uerige brewing record

Sorry I've no mashing details. I suspect they probably decoct. Judging by the timings the boil is pretty short, no more than 90 minutes at most.

I realise it's a while since I posted a recipe. Hopefully thhis will partially make up for that.




* "The Soul of Beer: Malting Barley from Germany", Braugersten-Gemeinschaft e.V., page 57.
** Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 72, Issue 1, January-February 1966, page 14.

4 comments:

BryanB said...

One of my favourite Altbiers!

LiamTheBrewer said...

This is an eye-opener for me.

I had been convinced by all the homebrew forums, judge guidelines & the Dornsbusch Alt book that the grists of all the Dusseldorf houses was Pils/Munich.

Uerige was my favourite when I finally visited last year, Füchschen was my missus'. I had planned to try and have a go at homebrewing the former, but my idea was based around Pils/Munich.

Does anything exist for Im Füchschen? Again I had convinced myself of Pils/Munich with H. Tradition and Spalt as the hops.

A Brew Rat said...

That recipe is similar to the one that was published in the New Brewer in 2007. Here is that recipe:

Water can be relatively hard with a high carbonate level. Malt is based on well modified pils, with a bit of caramel malt and a bit of "chocolate roasted wheat malt". Mash schedule has rests at 125, 144, 158, and 169 (mashout). Boil time is 60-70 min. Mittelfruh, Perle, or Spalt are the preferred hops. Aroma hop addition is about 25% of the total hop amount. Add aroma hops no earlier than 20 min. before flameout. OG is 1.044-1.052. Primary between 59-68F. Secondary at 50F. Then condition at 32F for 14 days. FG should be 1.008-1.014. 4.3-5.5% ABV Here's the recipe for 5 gal. ....

5.9 lb. Pils malt
.15 lb. Caramel malt (e.g. Weyermann Caramunich)
1.34 oz. Chocolate Roasted malt (e.g. weyermann Carafa Spezial Type 1)
.7 oz. Hallertau Mittlefruh - 6.5% - 60 min.
.46 oz. Perele - 7.5% - 60 min.
1.11 oz. Spalt - 5% - 20 min.

BrianW said...

Frank Hebmuller, head brewer at Zum Uerige, wrote about their recipe and mash schedule in New Brewer a few years ago. Denny Conn has shared it in a number of forums:

"Water can be relatively hard with a high carbonate level. This is pretty much what my water is like. Malt is based on well modified pils, with a
bit of caramel malt and a bit of "chocolate roasted wheat malt". Mash schedule has rests at 125, 144, 158, and 169 (mashout). Boil time is 60-70 min. Mittelfruh, Perle, or Spalt are the preferred hops. Aroma hop addition is about 25% of the total hop amount. Add aroma hops no earlier than 20 min. before flameout. OG is 1.044-1.052. Primary between 59-68F. Secondary at 50F. Then condition at 32F for 14 days. FG should be 1.008-1.014. 4.3-5.5% ABV Here's the recipe he gives for 5 gal. ....

5.9 lb. Pils malt (96.2%)
.15 lb. Caramel malt (e.g. Weyermann Caramunich) (2.44%)
1.34 oz. Chocolate Roasted wheat malt (1.37%)

.7 oz. Hallertau Mittlefruh - 6.5% - 60 min.
.46 oz. Perle - 7.5% - 60 min.
1.11 oz. Spalt - 5% - 20 min. "

Someone in the same thread (http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?p=547388) reported a very similar recipe to the the one you posted. This came from a Uerige brewery tour:

1000 kg Pils
25 kg Cara Munich III
18 kg Carafa III

4 kg Perle hops
12 kg Spalter hops
15 kg Halltertauer hops